


New Year's Eve Nostalgia

by GeckoGirl89



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 10, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Chandler/Monica and Mike/Phoebe, Background Charlie/Ross Breakup, Established Relationship, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, Flirting, Gen, Humor, Joey POV, Kissing, Mildly Suggestive Dialogue, New Year's Eve, Ross Actually Is Fine, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 19:05:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8812543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeckoGirl89/pseuds/GeckoGirl89
Summary: "Remember? Five years ago? We kissed at midnight."Rachel smiled with nostalgia. "Oh, yeah. I remember."





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am forever grateful that the writers gave us a canon Joey/Rachel New Year's Eve kiss in 5.11 (TOW All the Resolutions) and decided to write a little fic about it.
> 
> This is set in an alternate season 10 where Rachel and Joey never broke up in 10.03 (TOW Ross's Tan). Everything else in the season remains unchanged (including the Ross/Charlie breakup), and Ross is single and has adjusted to the idea of Rachel and Joey.

Monica and Chandler were hosting a New Year's Eve gathering. As Monica and Chandler were settled into a chair together, Joey snuggled with Rachel on the couch while Phoebe sat with Mike. Ross sat near the group in a separate chair.

Joey chuckled. "Man, this takes me back."

Rachel furrowed her brow. "To what, exactly?"

"Remember? Five years ago? We kissed at midnight."

Rachel smiled with nostalgia. "Oh, yeah. I remember."

Monica looked confused. "What? I don't remember that."

"It was back when you and Chandler were doing that whole secret relationship thing, and I was the only one who knew and had to figure out how to make sure you guys got to kiss at midnight," Joey explained. "Ross decided to kiss Phoebe because he couldn't kiss his sister and he had too much history with Rachel, so I got to kiss her." Joey grinned at the end of his statement as if he had planned to kiss Rachel all along and it hadn't just been a result of trying to hide Monica and Chandler's secret.

"I guess I was too focused on Chandler to pay attention to who was coupling up with who."

Chandler pulled Monica in closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Me too."

Ross laughed. "Yeah, you convinced me that I would rather have Chandler kissing my sister than you."

Phoebe raised her eyebrows. "I thought Ross actually wanted to kiss me at midnight. You know, I always thought I was the puppet master of the group, but I guess that title belongs to Joey." She nodded towards him, evidently impressed. "Very sneaky of you, Joseph Francis."

Joey shrugged. "It's not like I planned it that way." His next words were murmured quietly enough so that only Rachel could hear him. "But I didn't mind either." She giggled and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Chandler decided to chime in. "That is a weird coincidence. There's me and Monica and now you and Rachel. Obviously, not Phoebe and Ross since she's engaged to Mike, but it is oddly similar."

Mike smirked playfully at Ross and wrapped his arm around Phoebe. "Yeah, Ross. Don't try to steal my fiancée."

Ross held out his hands in mock defense. "Not part of my plans, man. I do kind of wish I had someone to kiss at midnight, though." He sighed sadly, and the rest of the group looked at him sympathetically, knowing that he was thinking of Charlie. They had recently broken up after Charlie went back to her ex, and Ross was still bummed out about it.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sure you'll find someone," Rachel said supportively.

"You know, my friend Stephanie is single," Monica added. "She's over by the punchbowl right now. I'm pretty sure she doesn't have anyone to kiss at midnight."

Ross glanced over towards the kitchen. "The cute redhead?"

"Yeah," Monica replied with a grin at Ross's response.

Ross smiled and stood up. "Yeah, I'll go talk to her. That way I won't have to be the seventh wheel to three of the sappiest couples on Earth."

The others rolled their eyes as Ross left for the kitchen. Monica frowned once he was gone. "We're not that bad, are we?"

"I'm pretty sure we are, Mon," Chandler answered, rubbing her arm. "It's the whole married couple thing. And Phoebe and Mike have the whole just got engaged thing, and Rachel and Joey are just... Rachel and Joey."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Rachel asked.

"Nothing. You guys just get your own special category."

Rachel opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by Mike. "Hey, guys, the countdown is starting."

They were only thirty seconds away from the New Year according to the television and the people in the room shouting down the numbers. Joey put his lips next to Rachel's ear. "So, I hear there's this whole tradition at New Year's Eve. Start as you mean to go on."

Rachel turned to hold his hand. "So, you're planning to have 2004 with me?"

"Every second of it."

Rachel beamed, leaning forward and moving her hands so that they laced around Joey's neck. "And every year after that?"

"Every year after that," Joey confirmed. A chorus of noisemakers and "Happy New Year" rang throughout the room, and Joey closed the tiny distance between their lips. The fireworks exploding in his chest were louder than anything on the television or from the other revelers in the apartment.

When he pulled away, Rachel still had her eyes shut and was running her tongue over her lips. "So, did _that_ do anything for you?"

Rachel's eyes were gleaming with leftover heat from the kiss and humor at the reminder of what Joey had said to her five years ago. "Definitely." She grinned wickedly. "I'll show you exactly what it did to me, later, when we get home." She pressed her lips to his, swallowing Joey's moan with her mouth.

Rachel and Joey both pulled back after a few seconds when they heard Monica clear her throat in front of them. "I got you guys champagne to toast the New Year." She raised an eyebrow. "If you can manage to stop kissing for five seconds."

Rachel and Joey took their glasses from Monica's hands, blushing simultaneously when they noticed their friends staring at them with amusement. Ross walked up to the group with Stephanie, and Monica poured them each a glass of champagne.

Phoebe smirked and met Chandler's eyes. "I can see why you gave Rachel and Joey a separate category."

Ross looked confused. "A separate category for what?"

"Sappy coupledom." Phoebe waved her hand at the various couples. "Out of all of us, they're the sappiest, wouldn't you agree?"

Ross looked at them appraisingly. "Definitely." His gaze locked with Joey's, and a moment passed between them. His acceptance of Rachel and Joey as a couple was plain to see in his eyes, and Joey felt relieved that Ross seemed to be fine. _Actually_ fine, which was a miracle considering his initial reaction when they got together and the tumultuous history between Ross and Rachel.

Chandler raised his glass to Monica. "A toast, to everyone being happy this year."

Monica nodded and clinked her glass with his. "Let's hope it continues into next year."

"I'll drink to that," Stephanie said, touching her glass to Ross's.

Ross smiled lightly. "Me too." He glanced over at Rachel and Joey before he took a sip of champagne.

Joey clinked his glass against Rachel's. "Happy New Year, babe."

"Happy New Year to you, too." They sipped the champagne, and Joey felt a cascade of butterflies in his stomach that had nothing to do with the fizzy drink and everything to do with the fact that he was starting the New Year with the woman he loved. He was looking forward to 2004. Judging by Rachel's content expression, she felt the same way.


End file.
